About the IPS

It is the mission of the Indiana Psychiatric Society to provide its members continuing medical education, review of ethical matters, and legislative awareness in association with its mother organization, the American Psychiatric Association, so as to treat mental illness and promote mental health for the citizens of the state of Indiana.

Council and general membership meetings as well as IPS-sponsored CME opportunities are free to IPS members. IPS members also receive a bi-annual printed newsletter, "The Spectrum" and a monthly electronic newsletter "IPS Update". To become a member you may call Sara Stramel at 888.477.9119 or you may register and pay your dues directly through the APA website at http://www.psych.org/Resources/Membership/JoinAPA.aspx.

The purposes and objectives of the IPS, as outlined in our bylaws, are as follows

1. to promote the common professional interests of its members;
2. to improve the treatment, rehabilitation, and care of persons with mental disorders (including mentalretardation and substance-related disorders;
3. to advance the standards of all psychiatric services and facilities;
4. to promote research, professional education in psychiatry and allied fields, and the prevention of psychiatric disabilities;
5. to foster the cooperation of all who are concerned with the medical, psychological, social, and legal aspects of mental health and illness;
6. to make psychiatric knowledge available to practitioners of medicine, to scientists, and to the public;
7. to promote the best interests of patients and those actually or potentially making use of mental health services; and
8. to advocate for its members.

Residents Programs

APA Minority Fellowships Invites Applicants

Psychiatry residents are invited to apply for APA’s Minority Fellowships Program (MFP). The MFPprovides educational opportunities not only to minority residents, but to any resident interested in providing quality and effective service to minorities and the underserved. The fellowship provides the funds necessary for psychiatry residents to experience a specialized educational program specifically geared toward building leaders in psychiatry to improve the quality of mental health care for the following federally recognized ethnic minority groups: American Indians, Native Alaskans, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Native Pacific Islanders, African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos. The fellowship is also designed to involve the resident in the work of the association and to give APA the perspective of young psychiatrists.

There are three groups of MFP fellows: APA/SAMHSA Fellows (funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), APA/SAMHSA Substance Abuse fellows (funded by the Centers for Substance abuse Treatment and Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAT, CSAP), and APA/AstraZeneca Fellows (funded by AstraZeneca). The selected SAMHSA and Substance Abuse Fellows receive a fellowship award (stipend), based on their post graduate year and availability of federal funds. AstraZeneca fellows do not receive stipends; however, travel funds are available for specific APA meetings and special projects. AstraZeneca fellows serve for two years. Psychiatry residents-in-training must be at least a PGY-2 in July 2010and remain in training during the entire academic year. Applicants must beAPA members. SAMHSA applicantsmust be U.S. citizens or permanent residents at the time of application. Federal employees are ineligible. AstraZeneca applicants do not have to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents or graduates of a U.S. medical school. SAMHSA Substance Abuse applicants must be in their PGY-5 of training in July 2010 and in a substance abuse training programapproved by the affiliated medical school or agency where a significant number of substance abuse patients are from minority and underserved groups, may apply for the substance abuse segment. All applicants are welcome to apply regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability. The deadline for applications is January 30. For more information contact Marilyn King at 703-907-8653 or mking@psych.org. Please visit the fellowship webpage at www.psych.org/Resources/OMNA/MFP.aspx.

Applications Invited for Congressional Fellowship

The American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychiatric Foundation, invite nominations for the Jeanne Spurlock Congressional Fellowship.

The Jeanne Spurlock Congressional Fellowship provides all psychiatry residents, fellows and early career psychiatrists a unique opportunity to work in a congressional office on federal health policy, particularly policy related to child and/or minority issues. This fellowship was established in honor of the late Jeanne Spurlock, M.D., who was Deputy Medical Director of APA’s Office of Minority/National Affairs and an advocate for child and minority issues.

The recipient will serve a ten-month fellowship on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC starting January 2, 2011. The fellow will be introduced to the structure and development of federal and congressional health policy, with a focus on mental health issues affecting minorities and underserved populations, including children. Fellows traditionally help develop legislative proposals, track and analyze legislative initiatives, arrange hearings, brief Congressmen or Congresswomen and their staff, and interact with their constituents.

The Fellowship is open to all psychiatry residents, fellows and early career psychiatrists. Applicants must be APA members, U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Applications, in the form of a letter, three letters of recommendation, and CV should be sent to Marilyn King; APA Officeof Minority/National Affairs, 1000 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1825, Arlington, VA 22209 by MARCH 12, 2010. This fellowship is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Wyeth.

Former award recipients: Drs. Sue Ishiyama (Cong. Patrick Kennedy), Ericka Goodwin (Cong. Donna Christensen), Harsh Trevidi (Sen. Jack Reed), Jose Vito (Sen. Gordon Smith), and Toya Clay (Cong. Janice Schakowsky), Daniel Bober (Sen. Patty Murray) and Vasilis Pozios (Cong. John Conyers). Dr. Kahlil Johnson is the current fellow who will complete his fellowship in the office of Congressman Edolphus Towns in November 2009.

Additional information is available at http://www.psych.org/Resources/OMNA/MFP/spurlock-congressional-fellowship.aspx or by contacting Marilyn King at 703-907-8653, e-mail mking@psych.org.

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

Travel Scholarship for Minority Medical Students
Application Deadline: January 29, 2010

The Travel Scholarship for minority medical students supports travel and related costs for approximately 10 medical students to attend the APA yearly Annual Meetings to be held in May each year at various locations.

For more information on this and other student awards please visit: http://www.psych.org/Resources/OMNA/MFP.aspx.

American Psychiatric Association

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Minority Fellowship Program
Minority Medical Student Awards and Scholarships

The American Psychiatric Association invites ethnic minority medical students who have an interest in psychiatric issues to apply for the 2010 Minority Medical Student Scholarships and Awards:

Travel Scholarships for Minority Medical Students
Supports travel and related costs for approximately 10 minority medical students interested in psychiatry to attend either the APA annual meeting in May or the Institute on Psychiatric Services (IPS) meeting in October. This program is a terrific way for medical students to witness organized psychiatry at work and to learn more about the field. Not only will students attend sessions for experts and trainees alike, they will be assigned to a mentor who will help them maximize their annual meeting or IPS experience and discuss career plans and resident training programs. The deadline to apply for the Annual Meeting is January 29, 2010. The IPS meeting application deadline is June 25, 2010.

Minority Medical Student Fellowship in HIV Psychiatry
This program is intended to identify minority medical students who have primary interests in services related to HIV/AIDS and substance abuse and its relationship to the mental health or psychological well being of ethnic minorities. For more information contact Carol Svoboda at 703-907-8642, csvoboda@psych.org or Diane Pennessi at 703-907-8668, dpennessi@psych.org. The deadline to apply is March 31, 2010.

Minority Medical Student Summer Mentoring Program
This program is intended to identify ethnic minority medical students who have an interest in psychiatric issues and expose students to a setting where they can work closely with a psychiatrist mentor for one month. The deadline to apply is February 26, 2010.

Minority Medical Student Summer Externship in Addiction Psychiatry
This clinical shadowing program identifies minority medical students who may have a specific interest in services related to substance abuse treatment/prevention and provide a setting where the student can work closely with a mentor who specializes in addiction psychiatry for one month. The deadline to apply is February 26, 2010.

These programs are open to ethnic minority medical students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents currently enrolled in a U.S. medical school. Ethnic minorities are: American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Asian-American, African American, and Hispanic/Latino.

Program details, application requirements, and the application form can be downloaded from http://www.psych.org/Resources/OMNA/MFP.aspx.

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Advice in Psychiatry

by Kelda Walsh, M.D., President, Indiana Psychiatric Society

Originally printed in the fall, 2008 issue of The Spectrum, a bi-annual newsletter of the Indiana Psychiatric Society

We are very fortunate in Indiana this year that an unusually large number of senior medical students are applying to the psychiatry residency at Indiana University School of Medicine. Over the years, the residency program has grown smaller, and we are no longer training Hoosier psychiatrists as fast as they are retiring. At IPS, we want every new resident to know how important, how needed, and how welcome you are to our profession. Every member of your class will be vital to the mental health of our state. Thanks to decades of effort by many advocacy groups, including the American Psychiatric Association, your class will be the first to train and practice entirely in the parity era. This is the beginning of a time of unprecedented hope for our patients and you, our new colleagues. As you pursue your training, we hope you will consider:

(1) Staying in Indiana after you graduate. Indiana is underserved by psychiatrists Jobs are plentiful, and you will be busy if you stay here. Your malpractice rates will be low (Indiana was a leader in malpractice tort reform, led by physician-governor Otis Bowen in 1979), and so will your cost of living.

(2) Becoming a teacher. It may seem early to be thinking of this now, but the practice of medical education is based on the tenet of "see one, do one, teach one". By the time you complete medical school and residency, dozens of teachers will have contributed to your education, and it will be your turn to play it forward. If Indiana wants to expand its population of psychiatrists, it will require more than a faculty at the School of Medicine; we need preceptors all over the state willing to open their clinics and train junior and senior medical students and residents in community-based practice.

(3) Raising your voice as an advocate. As a psychiatrist, you will hear the unspeakable and serve the underserved. Many of your patients won't be able to speak for themselves. You will be in a unique position to share your special knowledge and experience to advocate for your patients -- with the principal, the boss, the media, and the legislature.

(4) Serving the children of Indiana. Child psychiatry is the most underserved medical specialty in Indiana. At a recent meeting of medical society presidents hosted by the Indiana State Medical Association, child psychiatry was the only specialty cited for inadequate access by other physicians. Pediatricians are not trained to manage complex psychiatric illnesses and comorbidities, but many are thrown into the uncomfortable position of patching together services while their young patients languish on waiting lists for psychiatric services.

(5) Joining the club. When you join the APA, you join IPS. Your dues will fund national and local lobbying efforts that benefit you and your patients as well as funding your subscriptions to internationally-renowned publications. You can stop by for dinner with your colleagues or join the council and expand your leadership and advocacy experience.

(6) Taking care of yourself. You know the drill. Eat less, exercise more, get enough sleep, take time for fun. You are needed. We want you here for the long haul.